This invention relates to a method and apparatus for simultaneous operation of uncasing and cap removing, in which containers, such as bottles, loaded in a box, such as a cartone, are taken out of the box and transferred to a desired position in a bottle handling line during which caps, such as crown caps, attached to the mouth of the bottles, if any, are removed.
Conventionally, use has been made of an uncasing machine for unloading a box, or taking bottles out of a box, and transferring the bottles to a desired position. On the other hand, since it is often the case that some or all of the bottles loaded in a box are attached with crown caps on top, a cap removing machine has been used to remove such caps before feeding the bottles to a next step of operation such as bottle washing. Thus, in accordance with the prior art technique, a cap ramoving machine and an uncasing machine have to be provided one after another, which necessarily makes the entire bottle handling line longer and requires a larger space for installment. Furthermore, since two separate machines are operated in the same bottle handling line, it is required to provide a system for taking synchronization in operation between the two, which brings about complication in wiring between components and designing an entire bottle handling line.